To one degree or another, just about all of us are unsatisfied with ourselves—but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. A certain amount of dissatisfaction is necessary if we’re going to keep making progress. It’s healthy to aspire to be more than we are. The problem is that too many of us stop there. Why do you suppose that is?

I suspect that more often than not it’s because we don’t think we have what it takes to grow and be more than we are. And we’re usually right about that. We can make some changes by sheer willpower or working harder, like reaching a new sales quota or dropping a clothing size. But what about the bigger changes, the changes inside that we know would make us happier and better people? It’s that kind of change that is often most elusive.

We tell ourselves we’re not good enough. We have too many flaws and make too many mistakes. We’ve tried and failed too many times. What’s the use? It’s just not in us!

Jesus summed it up simply when He said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.”1 The secret lies in putting ourselves in God’s hands and letting Him do the impossible for us and through us and sometimes in spite of us. We may be small and weak and incapable, but there is a very big, strong, capable God just waiting to give us a hand. With His help, it’s easier than you imagined to make those “impossible” changes in yourself.

  1. Mark 10:27